Friday, January 24, 2014

Strategy could boost Canterbury provincial bus services significantly

Unlike regional councils in other areas ECan takes no responsibility for supporting or enhancing regional public transport systems, or addressing the environmental issue that it is the longest car journeys that do the most damage in global atmospheric conditions. There is no effective region wide commuter system at all, and no effective Riccarton bus interchange (for cross town links) that incorporates long distance services - as is obvious from the Intercity coach drop-off point above!

NOTE This blog was originally posted on January 29 2010; it upgraded and amended, with all photos added January 24 2014

A couple of months back I suggested that Environment Canterbury had created reasonably effective services to some parts of the greater Christchurch metropolitan area (Rangiora, Kaiapoi, Lincoln etc) but seemed to pay no regard to regional services.

Environment Waikato has created a network of services to its region (and unlike Ecan features links to privately owned and long distance bus services in its region on its website site). Likewise Bay of Plenty (a Rotorua-Tauranga bi-directional commuter service was so successful the operator, let-go the annual $50,000 subsidy)

In contrast the road between Christchurch and Ashburton is one of the busiest in the South Island, and yet there is no user friendly commuter link between the Timaru district (42,000 residents) and the Ashburton District (26,000 residents) and Christchurch city and Christchurch Airport.

The arguments I presented in favour of this, and the potential to create a luxury coach service operated by Metro (and tendered out to a private operator) are in the archived entry "Timaru to Christchurch - in three steps"

Recently I came across my own calculations of how such a service might look, if two coaches ran from Timaru early morning to Christchurch; back mid-morning to Timaru [which also allows driver changes, vehicle replacement for maintenance etc]; back to Christchurch early afternoon; and then evening commuter trips from Christchurch back to Timaru.

An obvious rider to this (or rather lots of riders, literally!) is that the majority of the regular - in some cases daily - commuters would most likely be be those joining the service between Ashburton and Christchurch. Commuters the further south the location the bus comes from would more and more likely be "irregular" or casual. These might include those catching early morning flights from CIAL - the biggest and most obvious market (?) given the high cost of storing cars in Christchurch. Other travelers might be attending business or business training courses or medical appointments or visiting friends or those in Christchurch hospital; or students and workers returning to Christchurch after visiting family in Timaru overnight or over the weekend.

But the middle of the day services through mid-Canterbury areas would also offer internal travel to and from rural areas and Ashburton, and ditto Temuka and Timaru, for shoppers, elderly, kids and teenagers etc. Obvious possibility exists to link to these north-south Metro bus services smaller shuttle van services to and from Geraldine and ditto tofro Methven, creating a comprehensive network, when integrated with existing long distance bus operations.

It does not seem a huge Ecan rate would need to be introduced to float such a system - divided between Christchurch, Ashburton, Timaru urban areas, and a smaller rate for all rural areas, it is hard to see this costing much more than a few dollars per household, in return for a service that will save thousands of needless car journeys each year.

Almost all locals stand to benefit at some time, for instance saving journeys to drop off or pick up friends or relatives from Christchurch International Airport.

Below - a little crooked - I compared the current service levels (top chart) with what could be if a Metro organised service was strategically inserted, timed to run between existing patterns as well as offer completely new early morning city-bound/evening homebound trips (bottom chart).

I have not bothered to include my (equally effective) charts for southbound services but based on current bus services, these are entirely feasible, with the Metro evening commuter services departing Christchurch at 4.15 pm and 5.15 pm.

It is often commented that as a concept Canterbury barely exists any longer, there's just Christchurch and the land beyond (shades of New Zealand as an adjunct to Auckland!) It may seem minor but I think it is an important statement about the integrity of a province, that cohesive, reliable and frequent public transport services link all parts of the province. [click on charts to get full size/complete image]

How Canterbury could have eight services per working day between Timaru and Christchurch - a level of integrated service that truly starts to challenge car use as always the better option.

Please Note - existing operator names and times are included as an academic exercise and do not infer in any they support concepts put forward here.

Note (2014) that some departure times may be altered but four years later ECan still hasn't created a quality provincial commuter link such as those offered elsewhere.

Above, working from existing running times for other services (and allowing for added morning congestion in Christchurch) the blogster adds two Metro Express buses - two trips from Timaru to Christchurch early morning; two return to Timaru mid-morning; two return to Christchurch early afternoon; two services back to Timaru late afternoon (after schools and work).

The same lack of quality access, across the day or at times that suit full and part-time workers, and students and city appointments is evident in the reverse flow pattern Christchurch - Timaru.

Having two dedicated Metro buses covering two return trips tofro Christchurch from Timaru each working day AND negotiating with relevant existing long distance operators to accept Metrocard, and special fare structure (i.e. for resident Metrocard users only, within Canterbury only) and alteration of afternoon departure times 15 minutes later) could give a VERY attractive frequent pattern of services from Christchurch via Christchurch airport.

Based on the times above Southbound services to Timaru could depart at 8am 9am 10 am 11 am and at 2.15 pm, 3.15 pm, 4.15pm, 5.15pm and 5.45pm.

People that are likely to commute regularly over longer distances to maintain rural life-styles are also more likely than most to work in the higher paid professions (eg air industries, computer tech, tertiary teaching, medicine, public authorities ) or be saving on the teenager's boarding school fees; or saving on travel and parking costs/stress if travelling to airport or public hospital. This route serves everyone but recognises many of the key potential user groups, needed to win a core frequent user group.

We are talking about a very user-friendly public transport backbone serving Canterbury that is every bit competitive with the five services a day that $31 million investment in rail delivers the much smaller population of the Wairarapa.

A pity that it is still beyond the organisational capacity of an organisation fictitiously called Environment ??? Canterbury??? .

Three seats across the aisle, fold down trays, e-leather seats - where long distance travel is heading - and all for a fraction of running costs of rail. Photo first appeared in RedCoach (USA) promotional material

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"Auckland is about three and half times the size of greater Christchurch but appears to have received about 100 times more public trans...

WELCOME TO NZ IN TRANZIT

This blog is mostly about public transport and social infrastructure in Christchurch, and transit around New Zealand. Also tracked; transit developments in similar sized cities in Canada and Australia, kindred in demographic patterns, for added perspective and inspiration. NZ in Tranzit blog covers some of the new transit technology and discusses public transport concepts in general, as well. Because the blogster's day-job is in a high profile customer industry to preserve some degree of privacy he appears only as a rabbit in his profile, albeit using his real name.

Christchurch is a city of metropop c 400,000 in Te Wai Pounamu, the southern of the larger islands of NZ. Public transport is operated under the auspices of a regional council with bus operations (and those of one small cross harbour ferry) tendered out to private operators including one owned by the City Council, Redbus. We have a modern clean fleet of buses which offer fairly frequent services to all city areas. The city has been quick to adapt new technologies such as low-floor buses, smart-card (arguably the best in the world!), GPS and Real Time signage and interactive text, and online type information systems. Our busiest route is The Orbiter, a service that circulates around the middle suburbs, and the ring of shopping malls, high schools and the city University about 4-5km from the centre of town

Christchurch also has restored trams operating on a central city circuit. Note [May 2011] - Sadly, due to two huge earthquakes (that took 182 lives) and multiple aftershocks much of the central city of Christchurch will be closed to public access for up to a year to allow the demolition of 900 severely damaged buildings. This includes a great many heritage buildings that previously gave the central city its distinctive character and (such was the exceptional ferocity of the second earthquake in February) even some of the high rises, possibly including those shown in photo above. Tram operations are suspended for at least a year. Many other parts of the city have resumed active life for both residents and tourists..

Locally designed and manufactured Gas-Electric hybrid buses offer a free inner city shuttle. The original Ashburton company Designline was sold to the US and 30 Designline buses are currently being trialled in New York . At a cost per passenger of less than a dollar subsidy and over a million passengers a year this was a very successful operation by any standard, alas suspended because of the closure of Christchurch's centre following the devastating Feb 22 earthquake

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6am November 1 2013 - the stats counter shows New Zealand page views, since the blog began in September 2009 just hit exactly 43,000 - not bad for an obscure blog about public transport, even allowing only a portion of these will be readers in the fullest sense.
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Blogger Statistics feedback also show that NZ in Tranzit blog is currently (November 2013) averaging about 1,950 page views per week. This has been dropping to more realistic levels in recent months I suspect now that potential Designline investors in USA are out of the picture. Overseas readership is still about 85% of total readership.It is a bit of a weird imbalance, but costs me nothing.
The primary aim of NZ in Tranzit remains the same, to spread more advanced information, and to share new ideas, options and visions about public transport, in NZ and Christchurch. I feel a bit like some nutty hermit living in the wilderness, bearing witness to religious truth, unheard and mostly unlistened to, yet a very high percentage of what I am saying is merely passing on best practise concepts from overseas, nothing weird at all.

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Auckland Commuter Rail Upgrade

Part of the massive makeover of Auckland's long neglected commuter rail network. A DMU from Waitakere in the West entering Newmarket's new multi-level station; buildings immediately above tracks are residential apartments; behind the train a double tracked in all directions triangle will allow increased options for trains entering or leaving Britomart

FREX UNDER THREAT

These beautiful Gillig buses (in cool livery) ply between Colorado Springs city and Denver (a couple of hours away). I steal this image from the Front Range Express website (click image) as a tribute to ALL small cities doing transit with flair and committment, everywhere

ALAS...........

The FrontRange Express service running multiple trips a day - mostly commuter orientated - between the small city of Colorado Springs and Denver two hours away is under threat. Despite 2008 being the busiest year in public transport patronage since the 1950s, transit in the USA is being savagely cut in response to the falling taxation base that supports it, in many cases reliant on funding from a small percentile of local sales tax. In a sort of act of self-cannibalisation, the transit authority for Colorado Springs has only managed to continue FREX service in 2010 by selling off some of the actual buses it uses. Hey Christchurch -open our minds, look around other cities in NZ and overseas, compare similar size places with similar key demographics - we could be doing public transport so very, very much better!

For example; despite 68,000 residents living in Canterbury areas south of Christchurch, in Ashburton and Timaru districts, twenty years after Environment Canterbury? took over local transit there is still no quality coach service, offering commuter friendly times and early morning access to Christchurch city and Christchurch International Airport from the south.

[see also October 2009 archives - Timaru to Christchurch in three Steps; also more recently, April 2010 Archives - Jumping off trains in Portsmouth

Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles

Despite the home of the car image, Los Angeles has been making big steps towards upgrading public transport, including this BRT system ( primarily on-street lanes and priority signals along the extended length of a main thoroughfare). The main revelance of this photo for me though is purely sentimental, as a city bus driver of "big red" buses (Christchurch Transport Board) this feels evocative of early evening rush hour. I drove late more than early and love the energyg of Friday and Saturday nights, despite the "crime" image 95% of people out enjoying themselves, loose and friendly! Two models of the larger capacity buses used for BRT services are visible in this L.A. street scene

Guided busway UK

Busways can be very attractive. Landscaping like this could make a corridor through St Albans a "green boulevard" from Northlands to city, for buses, cyclists and pedestrians. Potential - to carry half a million passengers a year or more. This would include a dedicated, all operating hours, all stops, 15 minute service (like Metrostar), and during peak hours additional buses, only stopping at stations at Northlands and Edgeware [pool site!] feeding in from northern suburbs and Rangiora etc. Running time from Northlands to first one-way cross street, approx 6 or 7 minutes.

Could trains in ChCh really fly ?

Melbourne airport, 24 million passengers a year (virtually the population of Christchurch flies in or out each week) workplace of thousands of workers. Yet studies show these numbers are insufficient to make a 5km rail connection (to nearest commuter line) viable. Linking Christchurch into a commuter rail loop (circular route pattern) serving multiple other residential, industrial and recreational zones might just give our small city (and by same connection our province) a rare edge to go where bigger cities and Auckland and Wellington can not go. Photo Melbourne airport bus.

Who's The Blog Driver?

Former Christchurch city bus driver and transport historian, author of many letters to newspapers and articles for publications. Has contributed many formal submissions and informal suggestions to city and transit authorities, from Taupo to Texas and, mostly, in hometown Christchurch NZ. A madness spanning 30 years!! Think global - act local....as Normandy in 1944 was won hedgerow by hedgerow so must a sustainable world be built bus stop by bus stop!! Photo, taken at first job in 1968. That dwatted wabbit just pops up everywhere!!

Followers

Eleanor Schonell Bridge Brisbane

The Walkway side of the bridge - the opposite side is for cyclists - and the segregated middle lanes are for bus use only. That's it - nothing else. no cars! That's a bloody deep commitment to a creating a better world - literally one where cars aren't at the centre. (Photo; Thanks to D McKelvey Flick-R).

Christchurch Nostalgia Stuff

The last timetabled AEC Mk IV bus, 25 years ago, leaving the city for Papanui. These tough old workhorses served Christchurch for 30 years. There "London Transport" styling and logos gave the city a big part of its once famed "English" ambience

Now Screening at Yube Cinema

Public Transport on the move! Latest addition, an older You Tube but good footage of Brisbane's Inner Northern Busway tunnels under city centre by engineers, Coffey International